Multi-Stage Geocache - Custer, South Dakota

We decided to try our hand at a multi-stage geocache. That is a cache that has more than one waypoint (the first cache points you to the second, the second points you to the third, etc), ours had three. The first waypoint pointed us to the Broken Arrow Campground, where John and Terri stayed when they were in Custer last year. We met the owners, Larry and Geri...very nice folks! The second waypoint was located in their campground. It pointed us to the final destination, located in the National Forest, behind the campground. The final cache was located in a rock outcropping (most are), which required a steep (300'-400') ascent. As we descended back down, the weather looked threatening, so we headed back to the campground.

Later in the evening, John and Terri brought over pizza for dinner...it was Terri's ?? Birthday. Then the guys soundly beat the girls in three games of Pegs & Jokers. Egos restored, brownie points erased!

John finding the cache.

View from the top.

Y with the paperwork.

The Birthday Girl.

Geocaching Extravaganza - Custer, South Dakota

The weather forecast did not include rain until late in the afternoon, so we took the Jeep out in search of some geocaches. We found five caches in a span of three hours! Not bad for some amateurs. It was past lunchtime and the clouds looked threatening, so we took the Jeep back to the campground, covered it, then took John & Terri's truck into town for lunch.

The girls finding the first cache of the day.

Terri found the second cache.

We had to climb through a lot of underbrush to get to the second cache.

John found the third cache of the day.

Everyone checking out the contents.

A view from the location of the fourth cache. Some locals call this Little Crazy Horse.

A little climb to our fourth find of the day.

Rock formations around The Needles.

John finding the fifth cache of the day.

OK, everyone back to the Jeep. It's lunchtime and I'm hungry!

Rainstorm dampens plans - Custer, South Dakota

Today was going to be John & Terri's first adventure in the Jeep with the top off. We all loaded into the Jeep and headed into town. We drove about a mile and "Was that a drop of rain?" &#!^*((&% So, we took the Jeep back to the campground, covered it, and took John & Terri's truck. It was a good thing. We had just entered a store for some shopping and the sky let loose. It was a gully-washer! We headed back to the campground for some afternoon and evening card games. We will try again tomorrow.

Goin' Topless - Custer, South Dakota

We finally got the courage to take the complete hardtop off the Jeep. We purchased a cover that we can use for overnight, if the weather does not cooperate.

We drove over to the Needles Highway to see how having the tops off would improve the view. It was great! Toward the end of the loop, we spotted the other end of the road we took yesterday on our geocaching ride. We decided to check it out. On the way, I noticed our Jeep's GPS was showing that there was another geocache in the area. We tried, but without John & Terri's portable GPS (forgot it), we were not able to find it.


We stopped in town to fuel up, pick up a sandwich and call Tonya for her birthday. Happy Birthday, Possum!!!

John & Terri came over for Pegs & Jokers after dinner. Tonight, the can of Whoop Ass worked...the guys won 3 games to none!

Geocaching (by ourselves) - Custer, South Dakota

John & Terri had "missions" to do today, so we decided to try our hand at geocaching, without their assistance. We chose a couple of easy caches that were close to the campground. The first was a 1/4 mile hike down a US Forestry road. The GPS got us within twenty feet. We climbed around some rocks until we found it.
The second cache was a five mile drive that ended in an old timber harvest area of Custer State Park. It required us to hike about 300-400 feet up a hill covered with high grass and fallen trees. We found the cache and on the way down, spotted a bird (unknown species?), with a grasshopper in its beak.
We decided to do some exploring and took the Jeep down several USF roads until they ended. We returned to the rig just before a good rain shower.

Later in the evening, we went with John & Terri over to the Crazy Horse Monument cafe for some Native American Tacos. After dinner, we played several games of Pegs & Jokers, guys against the gals. Even though I had opened a can of "Whoop Ass", the girls beat us 2 games to 1.

Geocaching - Custer, South Dakota

Today, John and Terri took us out for our first geocaching hunt. Geocaching is a treasure hunting game played with a GPS device. Using the GPS, you try to find hidden containers (caches), placed by other geocachers, then record your "finds" online. The caches are usually in a watertight plastic container or ammo box. Most caches contain "trinkets" that you can exchange for something you brought (we didn't) and a logbook for recording your find. We found four caches today. One was very easy (about 50' from a main road) and another required a 1/2 mile walk to locate. We tried using our GPS from the Jeep, but it is not as accurate as John & Terri's handheld model. We really enjoyed this new hobby and plan to do more while we are here.

Here we are posing after one of our finds.

Terri and John "hamming it up".

A picture of one of the cache locations (black & white).

Some local flora along the way.

Busy Bee!

A nice scenic view along one of our routes.

On one of the routes we took, we spotted a doe with twin fawns.

Badlands National Park - Wall, South Dakota

We took a two-hour drive east to visit the Wall Drug Store and the Badlands National Park.

Wall Drug Store is a roadside, "tourist trap", extraordinaire! If you can't find a vacation memento there, it does not exist.


Touring the Badlands consists of driving the scenic loop and stopping at several overlooks. There is also a visitor's center with a short movie on the history and wildlife of the park. As you can see from the photos (click to enlarge), it is beautiful place, but not a very hospitable.

On the way back, we stopped in Rapid City for dinner, some shopping, then home. We were bushed!

Journey Museum - Rapid City, South Dakota

We woke early because we needed to meet John & Terri in Rapid City around 9:00am. They were taking in their truck for service and we needed to have the oil changed on the Jeep. We stopped and ate breakfast, then headed over to the Journey Museum. The museum documents the creation of the Black Hills and the legacy of the people who settled in the area. The museum was very interesting and had something for everyone. No pictures...forgot camera.

We stopped by an RV parts store to pick up some supplies and then to "On the Border" for dinner. Since we were in town, we decided to do some grocery shopping at Sam's, Walmart and Target.

Repair Service - Custer, South Dakota

We hung around the trailer waiting for the RV service technician to arrive. He replaced a bad propane regulator that we had noticed was leaking upon our arrival in Custer. That pretty much shot the day, so we did laundry and John and Terri came over in the evening for cards.

Pioneer Museum & Crazy Horse Memorial- South Dakota

We drove down to Hot Springs to visit the Pioneer Museum. The museum was the local schoolhouse until 1961. The building still contains much of the original school furnishings (blackboards, desks, flooring, etc). Also, there is one of the original outdoor carousels still on the museum grounds. The museum contains items depicting the early pioneers from the Hot Springs area. Much of the items can be touched and examined.

That is one, long rifle!

It looks like Maytag has been around for a long, long time!

According to Y, this is an old "permanent wave" machine. It looks like something out of a Frankenstein movie, to me.
I found it funny that the paddle (hanging on the left wall), contained the names of children. I guess they had been unfortunate enough to have a meeting with the paddle.

On the way back to Custer, we decided to take one of the less traveled roads (unpaved) that made its way through parts of Wind Cave National Park and Custer State Park. During the drive we spotted prairie dogs and a white-tail buck.

Later in the evening we rode over to Crazy Horse Memorial, with John and Terri, for dinner and the nightly laser show. We all had Native American Tacos for dinner...hmm hmm good! As the sun went down the temperature dropped and the wind starting gusting. It was a good thing, we dressed warmly. The laser show is displayed on the monument and lasted about 20 minutes. It's definitely a "don't miss" item.